Have you noticed that I have a few tutorials from the Epic Room Makeover Giveaway that I have yet to post? Its true, and its a crying shame. (Lesbihonest, I am procrastinating that 3D tumbling wall because its going to be 78 posts long) So hopefully forgiveness will be freely doled out.
Oh and for those that are new, every year I host the most amazing giveaway blogland has to offer, I get to be the Room Makeover Fairy and go to one readers house for a week give them a FREE makeover. Sweet right? Its the best way I can say thanks to my amazing followers! Check out 2012 and 2011 for inspiration and to see the incredible transformations!
Way back when we were working on Kelsey’s room the biggest obstacle that we were having design-wise was the rug. I couldn’t find one that was right. They were either to boooooring, or too small, or too suckish. As a matter of fact we (Me, Kelsey, Jilly & Mia, and Hailee) spend a good 45 minutes sitting on the floor of the Peoria Homegoods trying to come up with a way to make a Chindi rug. (For those unfamiliar with the term Chindi it basically is a woven rug made out of different textiles. Also known in the great USofA as a rag rug.)
One early morning we found ourselves at World Market. (I had actually never been to World Market before and was in love with a handful of things). So we walk in and right to the side of the entrance they had this huge pile of the most colorful rugs I had ever seen. I actually think I made the sound of a singing choir of angels the second we walked in the door…which basically will guarantee that the employees love you from that moment forward.
The problem?
The rugs were much too small for what we needed, and they didn’t come in larger sizes. So I pulled my inner DIY MacGyver up by the bootstraps and decided that we were going to make a rug. We bought 6 rugs @ $39.99 a piece and skipped our happy rear ends out of there with a plan.
*Update (They were 3×5 each and here is the link to World Market)
This is probably the simplest DIY ever.
You will need a long upholstery needle and twine craft thread. It looks like this:
Nice and thick.
Lay out your rugs out in the pattern that you want. Ours were 2 rows of 3 rugs, hamburger style. (Here is a visual if you don’t have a 2nd grader to explain what hamburger style means…)
Then we stitched them together using the loops at the ends of the rug. We made sure to tuck the fringe underneath the parts that weren’t supposed to be fringy.
And 6 too small rugs became 1 giant perfect colorful base to Kelsey’s room. Its pretty much impossible to screw this up. This style of rug is SO forgiving when you are doing a project like this.
This rug screams “Hello world, I am happy today and I don’t care who knows it.” and don’t we all want a rug that says that to us in the morning? I know I do.
Check out the rest of the Epic Room Makeover 2012 projects too, unless you HAVE to get back to work, then you can come back later…
Voting is still happening for the 2013 Homies, if you have ever been inspired by something on VR I would love it if you would click over and vote here. Its sort of like putting a gold star on my forehead and slapping my butt for a job well done. xo
Awesome! I love the punch of color. You seriously are the queen of the best diys.. sincerely, you inspire me the most of all the bloggers out there! I’m heading over to vote for you:)
genius!
Love it! Do you know approximately what the measurements of the rugs were?
Jesse they were 3×5, so the final rug size was 9×10!!
xo
m
I may have to do this when I move and can’t afford a big rug to help cover the wood floors in my new house.
Thanks for the tip!
oh. my. god. why haven’t i thought of this?! i’ve loved those rugs since i was a teenager, but they’re never big enough. duh!! any tips on the actual stitching? the picture doesn’t really show, or i can’t see it yet.
i simply love that rug(s)! elementary teacher’s are some of the most creative types out there! who else would come up with naming paper folds after hot dogs and hamburgers.
Hey…how did you know I was reading your blog at work???
Uh oh. I suppose that means Big Brother knows too! 🙂
Totally love that rug, all the colors! What a great idea to put several rugs together!
Hahahahahaha! “Lesbihonest” I love Pitch Perfect!
Love World Market and love this idea! Have been wondering how to afford a really large rug for our family room, and this is a fun and affordable option.
I seriously am so inspired right now. I am like ready to burst I love this idea and the WHOLE room so much!!
Just got my vote…..love your blog! (also love Pitch Perfect)
Have you had any problem with dye transfer from the rugs to floor? Thank you for the great idea. Finding a 9 x 10 is net to impossible!
Hi! Can you tell me where the white and wood credenza is from?? It’s amazing!
I love this idea! Have you had any trouble vaccuming it?
A very refreshing athmosphere in the room!
What is twine craft thread? Is it a brand or a type of thread? Hemp perhaps? I tried to search for it on the Internet but without a satisfying explanation.
I didn’t see a reply to the person who asked you about the rug bleeding. When I checked the reviews on World Market, there were quite a few customers who had serious bleed out of their rugs and wondered if you have had the same problems. I know that textiles form India often have this problem so I have kind of stayed a way from them for certain projects. I have also thought to sew smaller ones together to make one large one but would like to know if you had bleeding first.
Thanks for sharing – your huge carpet is just delightfully a thing of Color!!